I think the "proper" way to pull it off is by teasing the middle section of your hair, but I really hate what teasing does to my hair, so I kind of cheat. I just take a big middle section, brush it back, twist the end to keep it all together, push it up to make the nice bump and pin it into place. I have pretty fine hair, so I don't know how well it would work with thick hair. Does that make sense? Then the rest just goes into a ponytail.